a new parent or a new camper), and a one would be a low level of interest (twentysomethings who no longer work with us or parents whose campers are gone from our programs). When put together, we can map the interest levels that exist from our constituents over their lifetime (see Figure 1 on page 52). Commonplace in this exercise for all camps is that we observe a wave that has peak levels of interest when kids come to our camp, then advance to our staff, and then again when they are parents and even grandparents. Low levels of attention will occur all the times in between. Now, where do the alumni fit in this equation? The alumni are the individuals who will help to drive those low levels to take advantage of our alums and put them to work. Why? The summer camp industry follows a marketing model in which we are only at the forefront of individuals’ minds for parts of their lives. Here’s an exercise to demonstrate this: Draw a chart. On the x-axis, write “age” and the numbers one through eighty. On the y-axis, write “interest level” and the numbers one through five. The age on the x-axis is self-explanatory: These are the age ranges of people we interact with as camp professionals in a lifetime. On the y-axis, you have the attention that we attain from individuals. A five would be a high level of interest (most likely with I entered my job as a camp director with some common understandings about what our key assets were within the organization. We had top-notch talent in our full-time and seasonal teams. We had a superb asset in the ranch where we operated our programs, and our backcountry use permits gave our campers access to some pretty amazing spots. However, these strengths were just the ones that were most apparent, and over time, the staff and I began to realize that we had another asset that is common to almost all camp directors: Our alumni were loyal and motivated. These alumni would go to the ends of the earth to promote and endorse our experience. Just as we took advantage of our permits, our ranch, and our best employees, we decided CAMPING magazine • November/December 2013 51
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